Shipping case unloading apparatus



April 14, 1953 A. E. RIDEOUT ETAL SHIPPING CASE UNLOA'DING APPARATUS 10 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 17. 1949 lll ||J AINVENToRs 6 V. a mi R @Z m E @mwm i 4 Za im Apnl 14, 1953 A. E. RlDl-:OUT ETAL 2,634,874

SHIPPING CASE UNLOADING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 17. 1949 l0 SheetS-Shee'b 2 ATTORNEYS Aprll 14, 1953 A. E. RIDEoU-r ET AL 2,634,874

SHIPPING CASE UNLOADING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 17. 1949 l0 Sheets-Sheet Z5 IN VEN TORS ATTORNEYS April 14, 1953 A. E. RIDE-OUT lfa'rALl SHIPPING CASE UNLOADING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 17. 1949 10 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORN EYS April 14, 1953 A. E. RlDEoUT ETAL SHIPPING CASE UNLoADNG APPARATUS l0 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 1'?. 1949 ATTORNEYS April 14, 1953 A. E. Rmx-:OUT ETAL 2,634,874

SHIPPING CASE UNLOADING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 17. 1949 lO Sheets-Sheet 6 ATTORNEYS April 14, 1953 A. E. RIDEOUT ETAL SHIPPING CASE UNLOADING APPARATUS lO Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Aug. 17. -1949 INVENTORS Aprll 14, 1953 A. E. RIDEOUT ET Al.

SHIPPING cAsE UNLOADING APPARATUS lO'Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed Aug. 17. 1949 www ATTORNEYS April 14, 1953 A. E. RIDEOUT ETAL 2,634,874'

SHIPPING CASE UNLOADING APPARATUS l0 Sheets-Sheet 9 Filed Aug. 17. 1949 April 14, 1953 A. E.RlDEoUT ETAI. 2,634,874

SHIPPING CASE UNLOADING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 17. 1949 1o sheets-sheet 1o BY WW1," 4' l ZM! Mqlm ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 14, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHIPPING CASE UNLOADING APPARATUS Application August 17, 1949, Serial No. 111,452

15 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for unloading shipping cases or trays such as are used for containers, including bottles, glass jars, paper or metal cans or other articles. It relates to apparatus for the unloading of shipping cases which entirely enclose the articles, and which are provided with folded ap extensions of the side and end Walls to form the tops and bottoms of the cases, as well as to apparatus for removing articles from open trays of less height than the articles. The former type of shipping case is usually made of corrugated board or ilber board, or the like, whereas the latter type may be made of wood, metal, or other materials.

In certain industries, such as the food product industry, it is customary for the manufacturer of the containers to ship the empty containers to the food product manufacturer in the shipping cases in which the product is to be shipped to the customer. These shipping cases, properly printed as specified by the food manufacturer are filled with the empty food containers and shipped to the product manufacturer with the tops of the cases unsealed, the naps being merely folded to closed position. When the food manufacturer receives these cases the containers are removed, cleansed, if necessary, lled with the product, closed, labeled and then repacked in the same shipping cases.

The object of the invention is to provide an unloading apparatus which will remove the articles from the cases or trays without damage to the articles or the trays and at a rate commensurate with the quantity of lled cases which come into the plant day by day.

Another object of the invention is to provide an unloader which will deliver the articles either in groups for single-lining in a converger, or in a plurality of rows or lines corresponding to those of the case.

Another object of the invention is to provide an unloading apparatus which when once set in operation by the operator of the machine will automatically carry out the required steps of operation and deliver both the empty tray and the articles to separate off-bearing conveyors.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which will unload articles from either the type of case which is higher than the articles, or the type where the bottles project above the top.

Other objects and advantages of the invention willbe apparent as it is better understood by the accompanying drawings illustrating two embodiments of the invention by way of example.

The rst of these embodiments is apparatus for unloading shipping cases filled with wide mouthed jars which are in extensive use as containers for food products, such as cheese, baby food, etc., the jars being delivered to the offbearing conveyor in groups. In the second embodiment the apparatus is constructed and arranged to operate on shipping cases filled with bottles, and the bottles are delivered in rows.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view of the unloading apparatus in side elevation;

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section taken on broken line 2 2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view in horizontal section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Y

Fig. 4 is a partial elevation looking in the direction of the arrows 4 4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detail section taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view of the jar-gripping mechanism, showing the position of the parts when supporting the jars;

Fig. 7 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on line 1 1 of Figs. 3 and 4;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view showing certain parts of Fig. 7 in a different position;

Fig. 9 is a detail horizontal section taken on line 9 9 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 10 is a detail vertical section taken on line |0 I0 of Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on line H II of Figs. 2 and 3, showing the jar gripper head actuating mechanism;

Fig. 12 is a similar view taken on line |2 |2 ol' Figs. 2. and 3, showing the stripper operating mechanism;

Fig. 13 is a horizontal section taken on line l3 |3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 14 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on line I4 |4 of Figs. 2 and 15, showing the bottle-removing carriage;

Fig. 15 is a horizontal section taken on line |5 I5 of Fig. 14;

Fig. 16 is a detail vertical section taken on line Iii-I6 of Fig. 2;

Figs. 17 and 18 are diagrammatic views, showing the case-elevating table and bottle-removing carriage in different positions;

Figs. 19-25 inclusive illustrate a modified form of the unloading apparatus;

Fig. 19 is a view similar to Fig. 14 but including the bottle gripper head and the case-elevating table;

Fig. 20 is a horizontal section taken on line 20-20 of Fig. 19;

Fig. 21 is a view showing certain parts of Fig. 19 in different positions;

Fig. 22 is a horizontal section taken on line 22-22 of Fig. 19;

Fig. 23 is a vertical section taken on line 23-23 of Fig. 19;

Fig. 24 is an enlarged sectional detail of a portion of Fig. 23;

Fig. 25 is an enlarged detail section taken on line 25-25 of Fig. 19.

The present apparatus brieily described, comprises a suitable framework I (Fig. 1) at the upper portion of which a gripper head indicated generally by numeral 2 is mounted in stationary fixed position. This gripper head includes devices for individually supporting the twenty-four open mouth jars 3 (Fig. 13) which constitute the charge. The cases have top, side and end aps, as shown, and come to the apparatus on a conveyor Il (Fig. 3) with such flaps folded over the top of the charge.

The machine operator opens and spreads these aps by hand and inspects the contents to see that the open end mouths are all facing up. The

operator` then moves the case to position C1 on a case supporting table 5 which rises by depressing a foot lever 6 to lift the case with its charge of jars into its upper or charge-engaging position C2 with respect to the gripper head 2. Then vplate referred to.

the partitions 8, which are of the criss-cross Y type forming individual cells for the jars, both the case and the partitions are forced free of the jars with a positive action so that there will be no delay in operation at this point. An offbearing conveyor 9 for the jars is arranged at the right of gripper head 2 and case table 5 (Fig. 1) and at an elevation which is approximately level with the bottoms of the jars 3 when held in suspended position on the gripper head.

For the purpose of removing the jars from the gripper head and delivering them to conveyor 9 an article removing carriage indicated generally by reference numeral I0 is provided. The raising and lowering movements of case table 5 previously referred to take place while carriage I0 is in the position shown in Fig. 17 adjacent conveyor 9. After the charge of jars has been gripped by the gripper head 2 and table 5 has been lowered to its initial position, carriage I0 moves toward the left (Fig. 1) into receiving position immediately below the bottoms of the jars (Fig. 18). The forward end of carriage I0 ejects the empty case from table 5 onto an offbearing conveyer 1.

The gripping devices of gripper head 2 are now actuated to release the charge of articles, which fall by gravity onto carriage I0, and this carriage moves back to its former position during which the jars are moved onto a flat plate II which forms a part of an article receiving trough I2. The charge of articles is left on this plate and the cycle of operation is repeated thus moving another charge of articles onto plate II and this moves the rst charge ahead onto conveyor 9. Appropriate cyclic operating mechanism is provided for effecting the operation of the various parts of the apparatus in proper sequence.

Now taking up the construction and operation of the various parts of the apparatus, foot member 6 is connected through a link I3 to the valve spool I4 of an air valve I5 so that when this lever is depressed to the position shown in Fig. '7 it opens air valve I5 and allows air to flow from an appropriate pressure source (not shown) through a pipe I5 to an air cylinder I'I whose piston rod I8 engages the bottom of case table 5 and raises the table to its upward position. Case table 5 is not supported entirely by piston rod I3, but upon two carriages I9, each of which is provided with four rollers 20 arranged in pairs and rolling on the opposite sides of two vertical bars or rails 2|.

The lled case is positioned on table 5 by means of two adjustable guides 22 and 23 (Fig. 3) in the form of angle bars and against which one side and end of the case are placed by the operator. As the operator moves the case by hand from incoming conveyor 4 onto table 5 the case slides over a scuff plate (plate 24, Figs. 3 and 5) which is carried on two spaced arms 25. These arms are fixed to a pivoted shaft 25 mounted for rocking movement on table 5 and normally biased to the dotted position of Fig. 5 by means of a heavy torsion spring 21 (Fig. 3). However, when the case table is in the lower position, a roller 28 on the upper end of an adjustable fixed bar engages a short arm 29 xed to shaft 26 and rocks arms 25 to the full line position of Fig. 5 so that plate 24 may serve as the scuff As soon as table 5 begins its upward movement arm 29 is released from roller 28 and the device moves into the dotted position of Fig. 5 for the purpose of rmly clamping the case against guide 22. To facilitate this the surface of plate 24 which engages the side of the case may be roughened or provided with projecting points 30.

The cyclic mechanism for controlling the operation of the apparatus comprises a one--revolution clutch indicated generally by numeral 3|. The purpose of this clutch is to cause a main cam shaft 32 to rotate one revolution at a time, the construction and arrangement of the cams on this shaft being such that one revolution thereof operates the machine through one complete cycle. Power for operating one-revolution clutch 3l, and the entire machine, is supplied by means of an electric motor 33 (Fig. 1) which is belted to a speed reducer 34.

The slow speed shaft of this speed reducer car- 11es two sprockets, one of which drives through a chain 35, a large sprocket 35 which is keyed to the hub of a toothed wheel 3l (Figs. 2 and 7), the driving member of the clutch. These parts rotate together and rotate continuously but are mounted loosely on a bushing 38 .surrounding and keyed to cam shaft 32. Driven member 39 of the clutch is a two-armed member keyed to shaft 32, one arm thereof having a driving dog 49 pivoted thereto and biased into engagement with the teeth of toothed wheel 31 by means of a tension spring 4 I.

Clutch 3| is tripped by releasing the tail portion 42 of dog 40 which allows the dog to engage one of the teeth of wheel 31 and thus start the rotation of shaft 32. At the end of a 360 degree movement of driven member 39 and shaft 32, tail 42 is again engaged thus withdrawing dog 40 from toothed wheel 31 and stopping the rotation of the shaft. At this instant a spring biased latch 43 snaps by the end of the second arm of driven member 39 and prevents rebound or backlash.

The control of tail 42 of driving dog 40 is by means of a clutch dog lever 44 which is pivoted on cross shaft 45 and which is rocked to swing its lower end out of or into engagement with tail 42 (Figs. '7 and 8). Integral with clutch dog lever 44 is a catch arm 46 which extends upwardly to the left of shaft 45, and mounted on lever 44 is a roller 41 which cooperates with a three-lobed cam 48. Cam 48 is keyed to a continuously rotating cross shaft 49 which is driven by means of a sprocket 50 and chain 5| (Fig. 1) from the second sprocket on the slow speed shaft of speed 'reducer 34.

The tripping of the clutch 3| is accomplished by the combined action of the upward movement of case table and three-lobed cam 48. When table 5 reaches the upper end of its stroke a cam bar 52 (Figs. 4 and 7) which is fixed on one of the carriages |9 which supports table 5 engages the vertical portion of a right-angled lever 53 and swings it to the left (Figs. 4 and 10). Lever 53 is pivoted on a horizontal rod 54 which is fastened to a bracket mounted on frame I. The horizontal portion of lever 53 compresses a coil spring 55 which is mounted at the upper end of a link rod 56 between a pair of collars attached to this rod.

The lower end of rod 56 is connected to a horizontal arm on a catch lever 51 which is pivoted on a cross shaft 58 and which controls the clutch 3| through co-action with the upper end of catch arm 46. Catch lever 51 is normally biased toward engagement with catch arm 46 through the action of a torsion spring 59 on rod 54 which biases right angled lever 53 in the counterclockwise direction (Fig. 4) thus tending to lift link rod 56. However, the engagement of lever 53 by cam bar 52 has overcome spring 59 and compressed spring 55.

The friction between the shoulder on catch lever 51 and the lower surface of catch arm 46 will prevent movement of catch lever 51 until one of the lobes of cam 48 engages roller 41 and lifts catch arm 46 from catch lever 51 slightly as shown in Fig. 8 (full line position). Then catch lever 51 moves away from catch arm 46 (dotted position of Fig. 8), and roller 41 is allowed to follow the contour of cam 48, being urged against the cam by the action of a torsion spring 60 which surrounds shaft 45 (Fig. 3). As roller 41 follows cam 48 the lower end of clutch dog lever 44 is swung toI the right (Fig. 7) thus releasing tail 42 and tripping the clutch. Lever 44 is immediately reset in the path of tail 42 by contact of the next lobe of cam 48 with roller 41.

Thus, main cam shaft 32 is started for one revolution and one cycle of operation of the apparatus. The first action to take place is the actuation of the jar gripping devices of gripper head 2 so as to grip and hold the charge of jars 3 which have been relevated into position to be engaged by these devices. The gripping devices comprise a series of pairs of downwardly directed resilient arms 6| and 62, one pair entering the open mouth of each oi' the kjars 3 (Fig. 2)'. These arms are equipped at their lower ends with resilient (rubber) pads shaped to engage the interior of the jars just below their necks.

The upper ends of resilient arms 6| and 62 are mounted on a series of closely spaced parallel shafts, arms 6| being mounted on alternate shafts 63 and arms 62 being mounted on the intermediate shafts 64. Appropriate mechanism is provided for rocking shafts 63 and 64 simultaneously so as to spread armsl and 62 in each jar as shown in Fig. 6 where the jars 3 are individually and firmly held in suspended position.

The operating mechanism for these gripping devices comprises a series of short levers 65 at one end of each of the intermediate shafts 64. Rocking movement applied to shafts 64 is imparted to shafts 63 in the opposite direction by gears 63 (Figs. l and 2). 'Ihe upper ends of levers 65 are swung to the left or right, to engage and disengage the gripping devices 6| and 62, by means of a horizontal rod 66 which is mounted for shifting movement in the frame the levers being forked at their ends to straddle this rod and engage the spring mounted collars shown in Fig. 2. Rod 66 is biased toward the right by means of a compression spring 61 which tends to hold the grippers in position to grip the jars.

Rod 66 is actuated by means of a cam 68 (Fig. 11) on shaft 32. This cam engages a roller 69 mounted at the lower end of a yoke member 10 which is slotted to vengage la guide block 10' mounted on shaft 32, 'and has at its upper end a link rod 1| which is pivotally connected at its upper end to an arm 12 extending horizontally from a short shaft 13 which is mounted in bearings in frame On the opposite end of shaft 13 an upright forked lever 14 connects with the right end of rod 66, bearing against a collar which is fixed to this rod. The downward movement of link 1| by cam 68 which results in forcing rod y66 to the left (Fig. 2) to cause the gripping of the charge 'of jars (Fig. 6) is the rst of the cycle ralf actions produced by the rotation of cam shaft The next action which takes place in the rotation of cam Ishaft 32 i's the actuation of air valve |5 to release the fluid pressure in cylinder I1 and cause table 5 to return to its lower position. This action is by a cam 15 on shaft 32 located adjacent the one-revolution lclutch 3l and keyed to bushing 38 (Fig. 2) which as mentioned before, is keyed to shaft 32. Cam 15 engages a roller 16 (Fig. 7) at the upper end of a twoarmed lever 11 which is pivoted to a cross shaft 18, the lower end Iof this lever being connected through a link 19 with the rear end of valve spool I4 of air valve |5. When roller 16 rides into the depression in cam 15 link 19 is shifted to the right (Fig. 7) thus `closing off the supply of fluid pressure to cylinder |1 and connecting it to an exhaust opening. A tension spring biases 'roller 16 into engagement with the cam to ycause this opening movement of the air valve. The pin and slot connection at the lower end of lever 11 permits this lever to be immediately reset by the cam without reopening air valve I5.

When desired to check the too rapid descent of case ta-ble 5, a spring-biased valve 8| may be operated by the lower end of a rod 82 fixed to the bottom of table 5 to close the exhaust opening near the bottom of the stroke-and provide an air cushion within cylinder |1.

Substantially simultaneously with vthe descent of table 5, the strippingl mechanism is operated toV strip the shippingcase `and thev partitions therein from the charge of jars 3 and maintain the case in contact with table 5 as it is lowered. This stripping mechanism, indicated generally by reference numeral 83, comprises a series of vertical rods 84 (Figs. 12 and 13) which are fixed to and project downwardly from a rectangular plate 85. At their lower ends rods 84 are provided with approximately rectangular button members 8B which contact the criss eros-s partitions 8 lat their intersections. 'Supporting plate 85 is mounted at the lower end -of a rack bar 81, the teeth of this bar being engaged with gear-teeth 88 at one end of a sleeve-gear 90 which rotates `on a cross shaft 9| (Figs. 1 and 2). A roller 92 which turns loosely on a second parallel crossshaft 93v maintains the teeth in engagement.

Gear 94 at the opposite end of sleeve 90 meshes with the teeth of a second rack-bar 95 which extends rearwardly to be operated by the teeth of a gear `segment 95 which is fixed to a shaft 91 pivoted in frame On the right end of shaft 91 is a short varm 98 to which the upper end of a link 99 is connected. This link is attached to a yoke member which is slotted so as to slide upon a guide-block |0| on cam shaft 32. A roller |02 on one face of yoke |00 operates in the slot |03 of a face-cam |04 on the cam shaft, this cam serving to operate the stripper mechanism 83.

The article-removing carriage |0 moves forward underneath the charge of jars 3 suspended from the gripper-head 2 as `soon as the case-table 5 descends to its lower position, as mentioned at the outset. The construction of the carriage I0 is shown 'in Figs. 1, 2 and 14-18. The carriage has two side frame plates |05 which are interconnected by means of two cross-bars |03 and one tie-bar |01, constituting together -a rigid frame for the carriage. On the outer side of each of the side-plates |05 -a rack-bar |08 is securely fastened, these having rack-teeth in their lower edges. Each rides on two gears |09 which are mounted on two parallel shafts l |0.

Racks |08 are held in engagement with these gears by means lof four flanged rollers two on each side. Since gears |09 `are keyed to their respective shafts |10, carriage I0 can roll freely forward and -back on these gears. The movement of carriage i|0 is derived from a face-cam 2 (Fig. 16) on main cam-shaft 32. The cam groove receives a roller ||3 which is mounted on the side of yoke member |4, straddling shaft 32, and 'slotted to receive a guide block ||5 on this shaft.

The upper end of yoke I4 terminates in rackbar H6 having teeth which mesh with those of a small gear ||1 fixed to a cross-shaft ||8 located about midway between shafts I0. A roller |9 maintains the teeth of the rack and gea-r in engagement. The rotation of shaft ||8 by the rack is transmitted to one of the shafts H0 by means of a large gear H851: keyed to shaft ||8 and meshing with the teeth of a smaller gear |3y fixed to this shaft I0.

Accordingly, it will be understood that when cam |2 moves rack ||6 upward, shaft ||0 will be rotated to move carriage |0 forward, that is, to the left, as shown in Figs. 14-18.

Only the left portion of carriage I0 receives and removes the jars 3 from gripper-head 2. The shape of the side plates |05 is such .las t0 raise this left portion approximately to the level of jar conveyer 9, while the right-end portion is at a lower elevation, so as to support the rack- 8. bars in engagement with gears |09. Jars 3 are received by and supported on a series of parallel rails |20 of suitable yielding material such as Mica-rta. These are mounted so as to be vertically shiftable to lower the jars free of gripping devices 6|, 62 land to reduce the distance the jars have to drop when released; also in order that the rails may move beneath the flat plate of the trough |2 onto which the jars are moved from the rails as carriage l0 moves back. As shown in Fig. 2, rails |20 are in their lower position which they voccupy when the carriage is at its back or delivery position adjacent conveyer 9, which is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and in full lines in Fig. 17. When the carriage is moved forward as shown in Figs. 14 and 18, rails |20 are elevated to the position shown in these figures.

The mounting of rails |20 and the mechanism for operating such mounting to raise and lower the rails is shown more particularly in Fig. 14. Rails |20 are supported on two parallel crossshafts |2| which are mounted for rocking movement in side plates |05. Each of these shafts has a series of rail levers |22 fixed to them, these levers being split on their ends for receiving the respective rails between them, the rails being pivotably supported on these levers by means of shafts |23. Shafts |2| are rocked 90 to raise the rails from the lower or dotted position of Fig. 14 to the higher or full line position.

Such rocking of shafts |2| is accomplished by means of a longitudinal shaft |24 which is connected to both of the shafts |2| by means of spiral gears |25, these gears being so arranged that by turning shaft |24 through an angle of 45, cam |2| is rocked through an angle of 90. Shaft |24 is mounted for turning movement in bearings which project downwardly from cross-bars |06, and is provided at its rear end with a short actuating lever |26 having a roller |27 at its end. As carriage |0 is moved forward from the position shown in Fig. 17, adjacent conveyor 9, just before it reaches the limit of its outward movement, that is, the position shown in Fig, 14, roller |21 engages the sloping surface of a cam member |28 and is moved upwardly, rocking shaft |24 45 and resulting in the raising of rails |20 to their upward position.

It is necessary to return rails |20 to their lower position before the jar-removing carriage I0 returns to its delivery position, shown in Fig. 17. In order to rock roller |21, and thus ro-ck shaft |24 in the direction to lower rails |20, cam |28, which is in the form of a short section of angle bar, is permanently attached by welding or otherwise to the head of a vertically movable rod |29 (Fig. 14). Rod |29 slides in a guide opening in a V-shaped yoke member |30 which is supported on shaft |18 and front shaft ||0, and the lower end of rod |29 is connected to operating yoke |3-| slotted to receive a guide block |32 mounted on main cam shaft 32. A rail-lowering cam |33 fixed to this shaft cooperates with a roller |34 mounted on one side of yoke |3| so that by this construction cam |28 is lowered as cam |33 rotates from the position shown in Fig. 14. Roller |27 is held in contact with cam |28 by means of a torsion spring |24 which causes the rocking of the shaft |24 and the lowering of the rails with the jars upon them.

Now that the jars are lowered away from the internal gripping devices 3|, 62 of gripper head 2, carriage I0 with the jars can move back to its former position, and does this under the action of cam I2, as previously explained. As the jars are carried toward the right on rails |20, they ride up on a series of sloping projections |35 at the left end of plate I which extend downwardly with a gentle slope, between the rails, their left ends being somewhat below the upper surfaces of rails |20 when in their lower or dotted position, as shown in Fig. 14. In order to move the jars over projections |35 and onto the surface of plate a pusher plate |36 is fixed near the left end of carriage I0, plate |36 has a vertical shoulder |31 to engage the jars, and then is bent forward and curved downwardly, covering the railoperating mechanism, and the lower end of this plate is arranged to engage the empty case on case table and eject it therefrom onto conveyer 1 during the forward movement of carriage l0.

As mentioned, plate forms the bottom of trough |2. This trough has side members |39 (Fig. to guide the sides of the group of jars, and these side members are connected to hangers which are supported on two parallel cross-rods |39 fixed to the machine frame and constituting the support for the trough. Carriage I0 is also provided with upright sheet metal guides |40 on each side. These guides telescope with respect to the sides |38 of trough |2, as shown in Fig. 15.

The modified form of unloader shown in Figs. 19-25 will now be described. This form is constructed and arranged to handle bottles and to deliver them in separate parallel rows or lines. External, rather than internal gripping devices are required. The jar-supporting rails |2011 on carriage Ilia do not have to be lowered before the carriage moves back to delivery position. Except for the changes about to be described the apparatus is like that previously described.

The external bottle-gripping devices of gripper-head 2a, are shown in detail in Figs. 23 and 24. The flexible arms 6|a and 62a, are fixed at their upper ends to alternate and intermediate shafts 63a and 64a. At their lower ends arms 6|a and 62a are provided with suitable gripping ngers |4| lined with resilient material of rubber, or the like, to rmly engage the exteriors of the necks of the bottles 3a. The size of the charge of bottles is the same as before, namely 24 bottles arranged in four rows of six each.

The bottle-gripping ngers 6|a, 62a are operated in pairs from releasing to engaged position, and Vice versa, by the rocking of shafts 63a, 64a in the same manner as previously described in connection with Figs. 1-18. Fingers 61a, 62a, however, are much wider than fingers 6| and 62 and in fact are placed edge to edge so as to form four substantially continuous rows of gripping devices instead of individual or separate grippers as is required when gripping internally. Hence, the bottle necks do not have to be placed carefully in alignment with any particular pair of grippers. Since the necks of the bottles do not have to be lowered below the bottoms of the grippers before carriage Illa moves to the delivery position, the bottle necks merely move between the rows of released or open gripping devices 6|a, 62a.

The stripping mechanism diiers from that previously described and instead of employing buttons mounted on a series of rods, sti parallel plates |42 are used between the rows of bottles. Plates |42 are rigidly mounted upon a horizontal support |43 which is in turn mounted on the lower end of operating rack-bar 81a. Plates |42 extend downwardly from the support |43 between the several pairs of gripper-operating shafts 63a,

1Y0 64a. The lower edges 'of the plates are in the same plane and engage the top of the case and force it free from the bottles. If the crisscross partitions ride up on the bottles they will also be engaged by stripper plates |42 and removed.

Stripper pilates |42 move between pairs of bottle neck guide members |44 which are mounted in fixed position on the frame structure of gripper-head 2a. These bottle neck guides have inwardly tapering surfaces disposed below the lower ends of gripping fingers 6|a, 62a and serve to guide the necks of the bottles accurately between these ngers. Slightly different neck guides |45 extend around the outside of gripper head 2a, being arranged with outer as well as inner sloping surfaces. The outer surfaces serve to guide the mouth of the case to position C2@ as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 24.

Stripping plates |42 are held in their lower: position as shown in Figs. 19 and 23 until the bottle removing carriage |0a has moved back to its delivery position (Fig. 21) so that the plates may act as guides to maintain the bottles in rows as they are pushed out from beneath the gripper head. Accordingly in this form of the apparatus the cam (not shown) which op-l erates the stripper mechanism will have a somewhat different shaped groove than stripper operating cam |04 (Fig. 12).

Instead of the trough l2 receiving the bottles at the delivery position of carriage |0a, the bottles are received on pairs of stationary supporting strips |46 which are secured along the lower edges of a series of spaced parallel guide plates |41. These plates are suspended at their leit ends from'across bar |48 forming part of the frame of the'machine. They are also somewhat similarly supported at their outer ends (not shown) so as to maintain them in xed spaced position.

Supporting strips |46 are only of such length as to support a single charge of bottles each, as may be seen in Figs. 19 and 20. Beyond the ends of these strips the parallel guide plates |41 extend over a wide Conveyer belt 9a onto which the bottles pass fromk strips |46 and from the outer end of which the bottles are delivered to the next operation or to a suitable conveyor'. Conveyer belt 9a passes around an idler roller or drum |49 at its left end and is driven from its outer end which is not shown.

The bottle removing carriage Illa is constructed like carriage l0 except for changes in the arrangement for pushing the bottles onto strips |46, and in the mechanism for raising and lowering the bottle supporting rails |20a. Instead of the stationary pusher plate |36 with its bottle pushing shoulder |31 (Fig. 17), carriage |011l has a series of pivoted bottle pushing fingers |50 (Figs. 19, 20 and 23). These fingers are forked at their upper ends, being merely extensions of the left hand bottle rail levers |22a. Fingers |50 swing down with bottle rails |20a to the horizontal position as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 19 andswing up to Vertical or bottle engaging position as shown in the full lines when the rails are raised. `Fingers |50 push the respective rows of the released .charge of bottles from their position between the gripping devices of the gripper head 2a onto the stationary-supporting strips |46, theforward ends of these strips being sloped as shown at |5|, corresponding to the sloping fingers of the bottom of trough l2. The previous charge of bottles which has been placed on sup- 11 porting strips |46 is pushed onto conveyer belt 9a by means of upward extensions |52 formed on each of the rails |20a, at their right ends.

The raising and lowering of the bottle supporting rails [20a is accomplished', as in the apparatus of Figs. 1-18 by rocking movement applied to longitudinal shaft |24a through roller |2'|a (Fig. 23) on the end of actuating lever |26a. However, instead of applying the upward movement to roller |2`|a by means of sloping cam |28 as in the earlier described machine, both the up and down movement of the rails |20a is' produced by the contour of the camy (not shown) which corresponds to rail-lowering cam |33. In other words, both movements are produced by an upward and a downward movement of vertical rod |29a (Fig. 9). For this reason a straight horizontal member |53 is mounted in the headv of rod [29a in place of slopingV cam |28. Member |53 extends to the right of Fig. 19 the whole length of travel of carriage Illa. inasmuch as it is necessary to lower rails I20a before theY carriage starts on its forward movement.

The operation of the apparatusv shown in Figs. 19-25 is not unlike that of the machine shown in the previous figures. The operator opens up the iiaps of the case while on the incoming case conveyer 4 and inspects the contents to make sure that all of the bottles are right side up, and then moves the case onto the case elevating table 5 and foot trips the lever 6. This opens the air valve |5 and causes table 5a to rise to the upper portion, placing the mouth of the case around the periphery of bottle gripper head 2a (case position C25, Fig. 24) and bringing the necks of the bottles 3a between the open external bottle grippers Sla, 62a.

The arrival of case table 5a at the top oi its stroke causes the tripping of one-revolution clutch 3| in the manner previously described, and the machine starts on its automatic cycle of operation. First ofv all the bottle grippers are actuated to grip the bottles. Then two events occur simultaneously, namely, the reversal of air valve I5 and the downward movement of stripping plates |42. As soon as the case table has reached its lower position, bottle removing carriage ma commences to move forward from the position shown in Fig. 21, where bottle rails |2011 are between the bottle supporting strips |46 and adjacent conveyer 9a. During this movement the empty case is ejected from table 5a. onto case conveyer 4.

Just as this motion starts, the bottle rails |2011. are swung downward from the full line position of Fig. 21 to the dotted position so that the bottle pushing members |5| and |52 as wellY as rails |20a will clear the bottom of the suspended charge of bottles. As soon as carriage Illa arrives at the forward position (Fig. 19), the rails and bottle pushers are swung up and the bottle gripping devices are released and the bottles drop a short distance onto rails |20a.

Thereupon carriage Illa moves back, rails |2011l and the bottle pushing members remaining in their up positions, and the bottles are carried to the right, the necks of the bottles passing between the open gripping devices, andy the vbottles being pushed onto the bottle supporting strips |46 as previously described. During this movement the group of bottles |54 which, from a previous operation, have been placed on the supllting strips |46 are moved farther to the right onto the conveyor belt'9a. Stripper plates |42 110W return to their up position and the cycle is ended, main cam shaft 32 having completed one revolution and having been stopped by the one-revolution clutch 3 I. The machine is now ready for the operator to place a succeeding case on table 5 and repeat the unloading operation.

Although the invention has been set forth by the disclosure of the construction and operation of two embodiments, it will be understood that other changes in construction and operation may be made without exceeding the scope of the invention which is set forth in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In an apparatus for unloading articles from shipping cases, an oli-bearing conveyor for the articles, a stationary article gripper head disposed in spaced relation to said conveyor and having article gripping devices constructed and arranged to releasably support suspended therefrom a charge of articles brought into chargeengaging position therebeneath with the bottoms thereof approximately level with said conveyer, means for moving a lilled case to bring the articles therein into said charge-engaging position, an article removing carriage horizontally shiftable from a position below said gripper head to a delivery position adjacent said article conveyer, charge supporting means at said delivery position constructed and arranged to receive the charge from said carriage and support said charge substantially at the level of said conveyer, and means for actuating said carriage to transfer to said conveyor articles released by said gripper head, successive actuations of said carriage causing a charge of said articles to move first onto said support and then onto said conveyer.

2. An apparatus for unloading articles from shipping cases comprising an olf-bearing conveyer for the articles, a stationary article gripper head having article gripping devices constructed and arranged to releasably support suspended therefrom a charge of articles brought into charge-engaging position therebeneath, said gripper head being disposed in laterally spaced relation to said conveyer and at an elevation such as to support the articles with the bottoms thereof approximately level with said conveyer, means for transferring said articles to said conveyerv after release of the articles by said gripper head, a case elevating table operated from a casereceiving position to raise a lled case to bring the articles therein into said charge-engaging position, a support for lled cases disposed beside the case table when said table is in its receiving position, said table having a case-positioning member xed thereon, a device pivoted on said table and biased into engagement with one side of the case on said table to clamp the case against said case-positioning member, and means operable on the descent of said table to case-receiving position to swing said device to a second position to serve as a scu plate between said support and table.

3. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the horizontaly shiftable carriage has a series of spaced parallel rails mounted thereon to support the articles, and mechanism for mounting said rails for bodily movement with respect to said carriage to raise and lower the rails with respect to the bottoms of the articles suspended from the gripper head.

4. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein the horizontally shiftable carriage has a series of spaced parallel rails to support the articles,

mechanism for mounting said rails on the carriage comprising two rail supporting levers for each rail, said levers being pivoted on the carriage and to said rails, and means for simultaneously swinging said levers to impart bodily movement to the rails with respect to said carriage to raise and lower them with respect to the bottoms of the articles suspended from the gripper head.

5. An apparatus as set forth in claim 4, in which a bottle pushing finger is mounted to swing from horizontal to vertical position with one of the rail supporting levers of each rail.

6. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein a stationary fiat plate is mounted to receive the articles from the horizontally shiftable carriage, the carriage moving under said plate as the articles are pushed oil from the carriage and onto the upper surface of such plate.

7, An apparatus as set forth in claim l, wherein the horizontally shiftable carriage has a series of spaced parallel rails to support the articles in rows, a series of article guides to receive the rows of articles from said carriage to maintain the articles in rows, a supporting strip being mounted between each pair of said guides to support the articles, the rails of said carriage moving alongside of said respective strips to deliver the articles thereto.

8. An apparatus for unloading articles from shipping cases comprising a conveyor for receiving the articles, a stationary article gripper head having article gripping devices constructed and arranged to releasably support suspended therefrom a charge of articles brought into chargeengaging position therebeneath, said gripper head 4being disposed in laterally spaced relation to said conveyer and at an elevation such as to support the articles with the bottoms thereof approximately level with said conveyer, a case supporting table below said gripper head, an article removing carriage horizontally shiftable from a receiving position below said gripper head to a delivery position adjacent said article conveyer, means for raising and lowering said table into and out of said charge engaging position, charge supporting means at said delivery position constructed and arranged to receive the charge from said carriage and support said charge substantially at the level of said conveyer, means for actuating said carriage to transfer to said conveyer articles released by said gripper head, successive actuations of said carriage causing a charge of said articles to move rst onto said support and then onto said conveyer, said gripper head being provided with vertically movable stripping devices constructed and arranged to move downwardly substantially simultaneously with the lowering movement of the case table and acting to engage the case and partitions therein to remove them from the suspended charge of articles.

9. An apparatus as set forth in claim 8 in which the gripper head is provided with gripping devices arranged in rows and with stripping devices in the form of a series of parallel plates arranged to move downwardly between the rows of gripping devices substantially simultaneously with the downward movement of the case table to remove the case and partitions from the suspended charge of articles, and means for maintaining said stripper plates in their downward position until the article receiving carriage has removed the articles, said plates serving as guides to maintain the bottles in rows during such movement.

l0. An apparatus as set forth in claim 8 in which a stationary at plate is mounted to receive the articles from the article removing carriage, the carriage moving under` said plate as the articles are pushed off from the carriage and onto the upper surface of such plate.

11. An apparatus for unloading articles from shipping cases comprising a conveyer for receiving the articles, a stationary article gripper head having article gripping devices constructed and arranged to releasably support suspended therefrom a charge of articles brought into chargeengaging position therebeneath, said gripper head being disposed in laterally spaced relation to said conveyer and at an elevation such as to support the articles with the bottoms thereof approximately level with said conveyer, a case supporting table below said gripper head, an article removing carriage horizontally shiftable from a receiving position below said gripper head to a delivery position adjacent said article conveyer, means operable while said carriage is in the delivery position to raise said table with a filled case thereon from a lower position below said conveyer to said charge-engaging position, means for actuating said gripping devices to support the charge of articles in said case, means for lowering said table to said lower position, means for thereafter shifting said carriage to said receiving position, means for operating said gripping devices to release said charge of articles onto said carriage, means for returning said carriage to said delivery position, and a cyclic mechanism for controlling the operation of said article gripping devices, said article removing carriage and said case table lowering means, the operation of said cyclic mechanism being initiated by the raising of the case table.

12. An apparatus as set forth in claim 1l in which the means for raising the case table is manually controlled.

13. An apparatus as set forth in claim 11 in which the cyclic mechanism includes a onerevolution clutch, said clutch being tripped by the case table near the top of the case-raising movement of said table.

14. An apparatus for unloading articles from shipping cases comprising a conveyer for receiving the articles, a stationary article gripper head having article gripping devices constructed and arranged to releasably support suspended therefrom a charge of articles brought into charge-engaging position therebeneath, said gripper head being disposed in laterally spaced relation to said conveyer and at an elevation such as to support the articles with the bottoms thereof approximately level with said conveyer, a case supporting table below said gripper head, an article removing carriage horizontally shiftable from a receiving position below said gripper head to a delivery position adjacent said article conveyer, means operable while said carriage is in the delivery position to raise said table with a filled case thereon from a lower position below said conveyer to said charge-engaging position, means for actuating said gripping devices to support the charge of articles in said case, means for lowering said table to said lower position, means for thereafter shifting said carriage to said receiving position, means for operating said gripping devices to release said charge of articles onto said carriage, and means for returning said carriage to said delivery position, said article removing carriage having a pushing 'device mounted thereon for ejecting the empty case from the case table during the shifting movement of said carriage to receiving position.

15, An apparatus as set forth in claim l wherein the horizontally shiftable carriage has a series of spaced parallel rails mounted thereon to support the articles in rows, a series of article guides to receive the rows of articles from the carriage to maintain the artic1es in rows, a supporting strip mounted between each pair of said guides to support the articles, mechanism for mounting said rails for bodily movement with respect to said carriage to raise and lower the 16 rails with respect to the bottoms of the articles suspended from the gripper head, and means for actuating said mechanism to lower the articles onto said supporting strips.

ARTHUR E. RIDEOUT. EDGAR ARDELL. JOHN HERBERT MOSLEY.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,858,619 Delamere May 17, 1932 2,452,927 Hammen Nov. 2, 1948 

